This year has been a tough one for the automotive industry. Almost as difficult as navigating the changes in 2020 when COVID tested the limits of our industry (and sanity). The number one question I’ve received from my customers has been “what do I do to fill my bays?” – great question! The answer is simple – invest in marketing. I’m not saying to hire a marketing director and pour all of your savings into marketing until you run out or see results, but working with a marketing company or consultant is a huge step in the right direction. Companies like Turnkey Marketing or Autoshop Solutions are industry leaders for marketing for automotive shops. They only work with shop owners because they have figured out how to bring in the best results for the automotive industry – those are the ones you want on your side.
What’s most important thing to focus on first?
Your online presence! What’s the first thing you do when you need ANYTHING in this day in age? You Google it! Need an appliance repairman? Most people Google the manufacturer and what’s wrong with the appliance to find someone to fix it. If you and your family/friends do that, it’s pretty safe to bet that your customers do the same thing when they need their car repaired. Having a responsive website with a powerful SEO (search engine optimization) program and excellent user experience will bring your website up the rankings with Google to help you be found by more people in your area. Invest in a website that is customized to you and your shop. Custom content is what Google uses to determine which shops are experts in the industry, and which ones have copied/pasted from other websites/sources. The custom content helps your SEO and propels you to the top. Keeping the website clean and easy to navigate is also a big part of user experience. If you have great content, but don’t include the important things like a phone number, website, or a way for a customer to get in touch with you, then it’s pointless. That’s why working with marketing experts for the automotive industry can give you a huge competitive advantage.
Creating/claiming/managing your Google Business Profile is also a very important factor for your online presence! Google offers a free Google Business Profile to each business – you just have to claim the profile and make sure the content on there (name, address, phone number, photos, services list, etc.) is accurate and complete. This is also where customers can go to leave reviews. Responding to those reviews in a positive way will also go a long way to engage with existing and potential customers. Having a marketing company or consultant to help you claim, update and respond to reviews on your Google Business Profile is crucial in your online presence.
How much should I spend on marketing?
There is a fine line between spending what you can afford on marketing and a recommended spend for marketing. General repair shops should spend between 4-5% of revenue generated in marketing. For more of the niche market shops like performance, transmission, etc. that should be closer to 6-8% of your revenues. That being said, when you’re getting started, you might not be able to spend that much, and for certain markets/demographics you may need to spend more. The best recommendation I can give to any shop owner is to talk to a marketing expert, set goals and work together to budget accordingly to hit those goals. If you are making $100,000 per month in revenue, you should be spending $4,000-5,000 per month (on average) for your website, Google ads, etc. However, if you do spend the recommended amount and your shop is overflowing with work and you’re booked out 3-4 weeks, you should reduce your spend a little bit until you find that perfect balance.
The automotive industry is also quite cyclical. Summer months are typically much busier than winter months for mechanical (general and Euro) shops, but the opposite is true for collision shops. For this reason, I always urge my customers to save any ad budget that isn’t needed in the summer for the winter months so the shop stays busy year-around. Less standing around for your technicians and more consistent revenues for you to pay bills!
What’s the best way to get new customers?
The short answer is Google. Google is the most used search engine in the world. Anyone who needs to find anything usually turns to Google. However, Google’s search engine doesn’t treat every result equally. The search engine allows you to pay extra to appear at the top of results. This is done through Google ads – those are the results that say “Sponsored” next to them. Google offers a free Google Business Profile to businesses where their customers can go to get reviews – that’s the page you see when you click on the results. Google also reviews all of your content and information on the website, as well as your Google Reviews to give the best results organically (free). The best way to get new customers is to use all three of these tools to ensure you’re staying at the top of your customer’s search results. Google ads are more cost-effective than any other form of advertising, and (if done correctly) can hit your target demographics at the precise time they have a need for your services, which means your money will bring in more leads at a lower cost than the more traditional marketing methods.
A few years ago I had a shop owner who was spending $2,000 per month on Yelp ads, $5,000 per month on post cards and was hesitant to try Google ads. I knew I could help him get better results AND save money if he would invest a portion of that with Google Ads. So I made a bet with him – if he would invest just $500 per month for 3 months into a Google ads campaign with me and I didn’t get him better results than the $7,000 per month he was spending with Yelp and on post cards, that I would never bring it up again. He made that bet. By the end of the second month he had canceled Yelp and the post card campaign and poured $1,500 into Google ads. He was able to save $5,500 PER MONTH on marketing while increasing his revenues by more than 50%.
It is really important to talk with a marketing expert, set goals and understand the pros and cons of each type of marketing strategy to ensure you’re getting the best ROI. Not every type of marketing will work for every shop – that’s why a customized approach is so important. Some things (like SEO) take time to build and grow, while other marketing efforts like Google Ads are faster for results. Utilizing multiple marketing tools and having a great relationship with your marketing team is going to set you and your shop up for success.
Autoshop Solutions